HILLSBORO, Kan. – The 2024 campaign officially kicked off this past weekend, as the Bluejays welcomed fellow Highway 56 foe McPherson to Joel H. Wiens Stadium in their season opener. Both teams showed promise entering the season, but Tabor entered the game with something to prove, taking advantage of a strong home atmosphere.
 
TC jumped on the board in the first possession of the game, chewing almost eight minutes off the clock, as Devin Jones broke through the Bulldog line to record the touchdown on a one-yard rush at the 7:02 mark, followed up by the PAT from Nathaniel Heilig. 
 
McPherson looked to reprise last year's contest where the Bulldogs relied heavily on Tristan Szabo's performance, but the Bluejays had other ideas, getting to Szabo early and often, frustrating the Bulldogs offense. Tabor forced a fumble on the drive only for it to be recovered by MC, before the Bulldogs were forced to punt anyway after only holding possession for 2:02 minutes.
 
The Bulldogs made up for their offensive woes on the defensive side, tightening things up and forcing Tabor to punt after only holding possession for 1:45. The Bluejays held onto their 7-0 lead as time ran out in the first quarter.
 
Both teams put on a defensive clinic throughout the remainder of the first half, with the only other score on the board coming by way of a Bulldog field goal in the second quarter.
 
Nathaniel Heilig extended TC's lead with a successful field goal attempt midway through the third quarter, giving McPherson a chance to answer. Instead of allowing the Bulldogs to answer however, Christian Tuiasosopo snagged his second pick of the game, taking this one all the way for a pick-six, putting McPherson into an even larger hole, 17-3.
 
McPherson's Jalil Brown provided the Bulldog's lone touchdown of the evening in the fourth quarter, but it was underscored by another successful field goal from Heilig, making the rest of the game just a formality and giving the Bluejays the 20-10 victory in Week One.
 
"Defensively we came up with a lot of stops…and us being able to get off the field in those moments is huge", reflected Head Coach Mike Gardner.
 
"I was pleased with our kicking game, I think for it being Week One we did pretty good in that respect, all things considered."
 
"Any time you win a game you obviously do something better than the other team, I don't feel like we did things to blow ourselves up, to beat ourselves, which is what our goal was going into the game, to only play against one opponent and not to play against ourselves and McPherson. By not turning the ball over that really helped us, we took it away from them twice and that was good. We're going to have to get the ball in the end zone more than what we did", said Gardner.
 
Bluejay Football returns to action this coming Saturday as they make the long trek to Nixa, Mo. to take on No. 14 Evangel in a 6 PM kickoff. The game is being broadcast live on the KCAC Network and live stats will be available.
 
Be sure to stay up to date with all information regarding Bluejay Athletics by following us on X at @gotaborbluejays, on Instagram and Facebook @taborbluejays, and on our official athletic website, taborbluejays.com.
 
Tabor College is a Christ-centered institution located in Hillsboro, Kansas. The Bluejays are members of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and compete in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC).